Recent Tasting Notes

I’m not normally a fan of green tea, but I don’t mind jasmine tea from time to time. I bought this mostly because my girlfriend loves jasmine tea and I wanted to give it a go.

I have to say… my mind hasn’t changed that much. I’m still not a huge fan of green tea. The jasmine definitely makes it more bearable, but it’s still very much green tea (and I brewed it at a low temperature, 75-80C). It’s also a little on the astringent side… and the fact that I brewed it at such a low temperature means that this is somewhat surprising to me. I would be expecting less astringency.

It’s quite jasmine-heavy, which is… nice? I think? Perhaps it’s a little too heavy on the jasmine though. The smell is lovely, provided that you like jasmine of course. The colour is very clear with a yellow tinge.

It holds up to multiple brews quite well, so you can get your money’s worth (it’s not the cheapest of teas).

I personally wouldn’t get this tea again, but then again I’m not a green tea drinker. While it’s here I’ll have it occasionally when I fancy something a little bit different.

Oh dear, I’ve reached that stage where I’m kind of tired of tea. I’ve just been mainlining it for the past few days because it makes my throat feel so much better, but the rest of my system is going OMG, TAKE A BREAKALREADY.

So, this seemed like a good thing to have. Others here have compared the flavour to Halls lemon cough drops, and I agree that it smells and tastes rather medicinal. But I’m sick, so medicinal is EXACTLY what I’m looking for right now.

The taste is lemony, but more of an acid lemon than a sweet lemon. I wondered how this would stack up to Tealish’s Lemon Meringue Rooibos, but that one is much sweeter. This one is more…limey, somehow.

Anyways. I hope that in a day or two I can go back to actually savouring my tea rather than guzzling it.

Preparation

I haven’t been trying too many new teas lately. I think too much new teas and tasting overloaded my taste buds so for a couple of days, I’ve been having my old favourites except for this one.

I can’t remember much about this one. I do know I really liked it. It had a sweet orangy flavour that blended well with the rooibos. The orange was not overpowering like in some teas and the sweetness just make it go down pretty fast.

Preparation

Had this tea this morning. Brews up a dark yellowish colour. It’s a very smooth green tea with no astringency. It does have buttery notes as well as sweetness but both are very subtle. This is a very unusual green tea and I think I am at a loss of words describing it.
I really did enjoy the tea though.

Preparation

Had this tea yesterday. Wasn’t picking up the lemongrass as much as the coconut but it definitely does smell Thai like. The coconut flavour doesn’t come across as tasting too artificial either. It’s a great tasting tea. I think I was a bit distracted when drinking it so I don’t have a lot to say on it. Holding off rating until I have it again.

Had this tea this morning before heading to work. Really enjoyable tea. It’s very light for a green- almost like a yellow tea. It’s also similar to a light oolong because it’s doesn’t have too much of a grassy flavour to it. It’s light, a bit buttery, and vegetal. I could really stock lots of this tea but want to try out some other dragon wells from other companies before I settle on one.

Oh this tea is delish! It kinda reminds me of a lemon flavoured green a local tea maker made and I had a few years ago ( and one I really missed having in my cabinet). I don’t think the lemon is too strong at all. It’s got a sweet lemony grassy flavour with just a tiny little bit of mint coming through. I would definitely order more of this tea.

Preparation

This is the second TeaFrog tea that Ubacat sent to me. Thank you so much. Is always interesting to try tea from different companies.
I liked this one too. It’s a really nice coconut white tea. The coconut is creamy and nutty not fake or artificial. There is just a hint of vanilla. All in all I’ve been happy with my first taste of TeaFrog.

WAs looking forward to the genmaicha in this but even in the dry leaf I didn’t see hardly any toasted rice. Brewed up it has a nice fruity flavour. A pleasant cup of tea but where’s the bamboo and genmaicha flavour? The red peppercorns gave it a little bit of a spicy note that I liked. Overall, not a bad tea but it doesn’t get a really high rating (so far) because I didn’t taste any genmaicha. Someone else commented here that depending on what’s in your sample and you put in your cup, it could change slightly each time you have it. There’s hope then that i may taste the genmaicha next time I try this tea.

Preparation

Thank you Ubacat for sending me this sample.
I like this. Nice blueberry – not artificial, not too sweet. The white base is present but not fighting with the berry. I drank this hot but I’m sure it would be really good iced. There is nothing wrong with this. It’s a really good blueberry white tea.
Thank you – I’ve never tried any of Teafrog teas – this was a nice introduction.

I can’t believe I’ve never had this tea from Tea Frog until now. Brewed for 3 min at 195F. This is a very strong oolong. If it didn’t have oolong on the package I would swear this was a black tea. I prefer the light oolongs but do like some of the roasted too. This one is just too strong of an oolong for me. I can taste the roasted sweetness which some might like but it’s not for me. Into the swap pile it goes.

Preparation

The package said to add 4 to 6 balls for a cup! That seemed too small of an amount to me so I added 8 or 9. It brewed up pretty mild. This is my very first Jasmine Pearls ever. I’ve had lots of Jasmine Green but never Jasmine Pearls. I liked the Jasmine scent and flavour. It wasn’t too overpowering (I used to LOVE overpowering Jasmine teas) and definitely not too mild (can’t stand those). Somewhere in between. It wasn’t an exceptional tea but it was good. I’m looking forward to trying the Jasmine Pearls from Tealux next to see if there really is a difference.

Flavors: Flowers

Preparation

Though I’m not a big white tea drinker, nor am I a fan of coconut flavourings, I found this tea to be true to it’s name! The coconut wasn’t overpowering; more natural actually. Quite aromatic and hints of sweet-creaminess.

Flavors: Coconut, Cream, Vanilla

Preparation

I thought I had ordered the LOVE rooibos as a sample from Teafrog and got this one instead. Pretty weird. It certainly smelled good in the bag. I think the name Kalahari threw me off for what I expected in a smell and flavour. It was almost like doing a blind test! I kept thinking there was something slightly familiar to Rishi’s Earl Grey Rooibos but not quite. Then I saw lemongrass in the ingredients and that explained that since bergamot and lemongrass are both citrusy. I like infused1’s comment about how this smells and tastes like Hall’s lemon cough drops. I agree. I think a little too much lemon flavour was added on top of the lemongrass. I always like Hall’s lemon cough drops though so I do sort of enjoy the tea. But would I buy it again? Probably not.

This tea hasn’t been my favourite and I guess that’s why it’s taking me so long to sip down. This morning it seemed bitter. On my last review I had noted there was no bitterness. I wonder what’s up with that? I brewed at 185 and last time was 175 so maybe that little bit of temperature makes a big difference. One more cup of this left and I’ll be glad when it’s gone. It’s not really bad but not really good either.

Very excited to be trying my very first tea from Teafrog and it’s interesting I chose the free sample they threw in instead of one of the samples I bought. This tea taste almost like a Jasmine Green I have in a teabag. I don’t know the name of the Jasmine Green I have in the tea bag. I took it out of the box (bought it from Loblaws) and it has Jasmine Tea stamped on it and some Chinese writing – no company name. That said, this tea has a nice floral jasmine scent . I don’t consider it too strong but I love floral scented teas. The tea itself is delicate, no bitterness .

This is a really enjoyable, easy to drink tea. It fits the bill for when you’re craving a creamy, soft, satisfying but yet light tea. My boyfriend, who hates coconut, even enjoyed this. It has the great qualities of coconut without coming across like a pina colada. Very enjoyable.

Preparation

Yum! This tea seals it for me, on my tea journey I’m still learning what I like and don’t like. And I absolutely like green tea. Hands down, best stuff out there to my lil ole’ taste buds.

So for me, the genmaicha wasn’t as nutty as the previous blend I’d recently tried from Dens tea. The red pepper was certainly pretty! But to me, this tea was AAAAALL about the pineapple! (maybe a touch of papaya).

Very fruity in a warm but crisp way. Usually when i try fruity teas, I think they’re better cold. Almost always. Not this tea. This tea is so aromatic and flavorpacked when warm. This is an excellent tea for someone trying to replace sugary drinks with something healthier but still enjoyable. Yum yum yum.

Preparation

Sipdown no. 16 for 2014. Another sample in the “to be drunk soon” box that I didn’t get to during my last tea tasting frenzy.

The dry leaf has so many interesting shapes and colors in it. ;-) The red peppercorns are really pretty. They look like miniature holly berries against the green of the tea. I can see little squares of what must be the papaya or the pineapple (probably papaya because of the color). And the little cardamom pods! The dry leaf has a mostly sweet scent to it with just a hint of spice.

The liquor is golden and smells very fruity. I get a lot of pineapple in the aroma.

I’ve had some bad experiences with flavored greens, but not so here! Very tasty and not at all bitter. Not as toasty-ricey as I expected, though there’s a hint around the edges, and I’m not getting the spice I thought I’d get with the pepper and cardamom (though there’s a peppery kick to the aftertaste that’s playing with the tip of my tongue). I get mostly pineapple, as a gentle fruity flavor. As I was sipping I wondered where the bamboo was, but I’m getting it, a long with the toasty rice, in the finish. I should perhaps have steeped this a bit longer. I also suspect that with teas like this with all the various ingredients a lot depends on the individual makeup of your sample. I’d drink it again, though I don’t love it enough to buy it.

And now I really must detach myself from the internet and go write something. Alas, I fear I will not be successful.

ETA: The fruity tea lover in the house, the BF, had one word for this.
“Aces.” I’m bumping the rating because he’s more of the target audience than I am. I’d give it a 75. He’d give it, I’m sure, at least a 90. So I’m putting it at 85. I also have to revise my prediction as to whether I would buy this, because he’s already asking if there’s more!

Preparation

I had a sample of this that I’d planned to make over a couple of tastings, but it ended up as an unintentional sipdown. I was making 3 cups in the Breville and that left only enough for about one more cup so I figured what the heck. Adding it to the count of sipdowns for 2014. This is no. 14 for 2014.

It was in my “soon to be tasted” box of samples, which means it was not kept away from light as it should have been, particularly given the clear plastic bag it came in. I am not sure how that affected it. I didn’t get aroma from the dry leaf-I just smelled the sample bag’s plastic, so my guess is it had a negative effect.

The leaves, being FBOP, are small and brownish. Fairly uniform in size, shape and color and pretty to look at. The tea steeps to a pretty, orange-brown tea color. The leaves were a bit too fine for the Breville filter and some made their way into the tea and settled at the bottom of the cup.

There’s a subtle aroma that actually strikes me as a little fruity, rather more than flowery. In taste, it’s light and a little fruity. Not full bodied but pleasant, definitely a more appealing taste than what Americans have been raised to think of as “orange pekoe.” I’m glad I got the chance to try it though for plain blacks I find a richer flavor more to my liking.

I didn’t get to try it iced, but I think that could be its sweet spot.

ETA: Peanut number 2 asked to sniff this and then to taste it and proclaimed “I love it!” I added a bit of sweetener to mine and found it opened up the flavor quite a bit. I should also add that the mouthfeel on this one is nice. It has some thickness to it that I wouldn’t expect given the body of the tea.